


Don’t Shout Until You’re Out of the Woods

by GeekLibrarian



Series: God Save the Queen [7]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Fluff, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-19
Updated: 2015-11-19
Packaged: 2018-05-02 10:29:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5244920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeekLibrarian/pseuds/GeekLibrarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Y/N and Team Free Will finally learn some truths about what’s going on, and that leads them in an unexpected turn of events</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don’t Shout Until You’re Out of the Woods

“What? I have an image to guard!” you said as your face went completely red.

You had tied up your hair in a bun and were now wearing a white and light blue stripped shirt. And glasses. And the three men were looking you in astonishment.

“You’re going to talk with  _demons._ ” Said Dean opening his eyes wide; and not being able to look at you without laughing he stormed away.

“I’m going to talk with my lawyer!” you shouted back at him, and then threw a killing gaze to the other two. “Don’t even think about it!”

“I think you look… angelical.” said Cas in a tone that made you look at him with a mixture of confusion and repulsion. Castiel was making fun of you. The angel without a sense of humor was making fun of you.

“I need to do this quickly.” And you turned on the computer and sat in front of it.

After a couple of minutes you were talking to a grown, redheaded woman, also in glasses. You greeted her with all your hidden manners and in a voice that made your friends drop their jaws. You were a completely different person. And it should be that way; that was the way you always intended your two lives to be: distant and strange one to the other.

And right now, they were crashing together.

“I wasn’t expecting your call for another week.” The woman said in your screen.

“I know, but there are some issues that have come up, and I need you to look something up for me.”

“Certainly. What can I help you with?”

“Well, in a couple of months, I’m turning 33, and I distantly remember my father saying that this age was really important for something. Of course, I was too little, and I was, may he forgive me, eavesdropping a conversation he had with my mother. So I was wondering if you could look up if there’s something in his will, or in the companies rule books about me being 33 or this year …”

She was writing everything down in a notebook. Her face was completely blank, as if this kind of request was something ordinary.

“I just want to be ahead of the circumstances.”

“Of course. As always. And I shall compliment you for your memory and care.”

“Thank you very much. We shall speak soon.”

“What if she’s involved?” said Sam over your shoulder as you closed the lid of the notebook. He had been looking at the screen, though in a safe spot from the camera. “She looked really weird.”

“Who? Miss Portia? Oh, trust me. If she’s possessed, I’d know. There’s no being, human or creature that can emulate her stiffness. But she’s sweet, and always has been supportive. She basically raised me when my parents died…” you stopped talking.

Your father wasn’t dead. He was alive and looking for you, to  _kill_  you. You felt like  a stone had suddenly appeared in your stomach, and unwanted tears filled your eyes as you started to wonder and lots of questions popped into your head.

“Hey, come here,” Sam said pulling you into a hug. “We’re gonna figure this out, okay? And I know it’s going to be difficult, but you need to understand in your heart that your father’s probably dead.”

His words hit a soft spot and you pushed yourself away from him, a little offended.

“And what if he’s not?” you asked. “What if he’s still alive in there, and has been for the past twenty years? What if he  _actually_  is my father and the only one I ever knew was the demon?”

“I didn’t mean to upset you… I’m sorry. I just… I don’t want you to get hurt in all this. You don’t deserve any of this.” Sam’s apology was honest and you hesitated a bit.

“What Sam means–” said Castiel, stepping closer and holding your hand with caution and kindness. “–is that… don’t forget we’re your family too, now. When the time comes, you shouldn’t have to think he’s all you have left, because you have us too.”

A smile burst into your lips and you couldn’t help yourself. Instantly, you were holding him in a hug and pulling Sam in it too, shouting for Dean to come back.

“What? What’s going on?” he said, appearing in the doorway munching the rest of a doughnut.

“Family hug you insatiable, adorable boy!” you answered with a laugh, still holding the other two and extending an arm towards him.

But Dean looked at you skeptically and shook his head in negation.

“No way in…” he didn’t finish, you were already jumping on him and clasping him in a tight hug.

“If- I- say… it’s- family hug time- you…” you were struggling with him trying to loose himself, “YOU HUG ME!”

You could hear Sam laughing in the back, and saw Cas slightly smiling with the corner of your eye, as Dean shook you from side to side. Finally, you gave up and flew a little across the room as you let yourself go from him; Cas was there to catch you and prevent you from hitting anything.

“Thanks,” you said with a smile, letting your gaze wander over his face. And he understood you meant more than just him catching you.

“Anytime.”

—————–

“But what if he  _is_  alive?” you asked to Castiel a while later, sitting on the couch and holding a hot cup of Ceylon tea between your hands, leaning forward so your elbows were resting on your knees. He was sitting right next to you, a mug in one of his hands and the other arm slightly caressing your neck in more of a reflex than a conscious movement; but your words brought him back from his stupor.

“Then we shall do our best to try and save him,” he said quietly, and you understood without inquiring.

If your father was alive, that meant he was trapped in a body that had been crushed by a train wagon twenty years ago, and that was only surviving because of the demon inside him; the chances of rescuing him went from zero to none.

“That’s what Sam meant about him being already dead,” you whispered. “There are no chances of him surviving this… if he’s not already dead.”

The angel grabbed your hand and gave it a little squeeze. There were no good answers.

——————–

The day after, you received a call from your lawyer. She seemed a little disturbed as she talked to you and that made you uneasy.

“So, basically,” you repeated slowly, fixing your eyes on the screen, “there’s nothing special about this year. Nothing on their will or in any other legal document.”

“No, that’s right. Absolutely nothing.” Her eyes kept darting down to the papers on her hand, her hair all messy.

“Oh, well. I shouldn’t be worrying about it then.”

“Most definitely not. Not unless you father left a hidden will somewhere in your house,” she said and started laughing a hysterical laugh.

That was it. You laughed with her, because now you knew she was being carefully watched, or at least she thought so; but as soon as the conversation ended and you shut down and closed the computer you jumped to your feet, a scream of rage coming out of your lungs.

“They’re always one step ahead from us!” You felt like throwing something or breaking something.

“She seemed really shaken,” commented Dean.

“She was… and that joke… she  _never_ makes jokes…” and then it struck you. “She was giving me a message.”

“What? What kind of message?” inquired Sam.

“We need to go to my house. In London.”

“I could take us all there in a second.” Said Cas.

“We could also fly…”

“Out of the question,” interrupted Dean very seriously, “I rather be zapped with the lot of you than take a goddamn plane. SHUT UP SAM!” Sam was giggling quite loudly, trying to cover his mouth with his arm, but failing terribly.

Dean strode off to the hallway, a little red in the cheeks, and when leaving he shouted back at you that you better started packing.

—————————

“Are you sure you want to go back?” Castiel asked while you threw some clothes into a duffel mindlessly.

“Hell, no! I don’t want to go, love. But we need to if we want to stop these bastards. I need to check my parents’ house, I’m positive that there’s something hidden in there.”

And your mind strode far away again, to happier times.

_“Sweetie! Don’t wander too far away!” you mother called. She was sitting on a blanket on the grass watching you run laughing all over the yard. And it was a huge yard. You loved being able to go out, because you could run until your legs hurt and your cheeks were red and the breath was missing from your lungs, and that made you terribly happy._

_You raised a hand to let her know you had heard her and kept running, right into the tiny forest of eucalyptus that rose in front of you. You loved the smell of it, strong and sweet and fresh, and even when you couldn’t explain to your teachers how you felt about summer holidays, you would say to them “It’s like breathing eucalyptus. Eucalyptus is summer.”_

_In the small woods the sun poured through the heavily loaded branches, making it shine with strains of silver and gold and green. You loved it there, it made you feel like you were in the world of faeries, so you played you were one and ran and tried to fly._

“Y/N?” Castiel’s deep but soft voice dragged you out of your stupor and you smiled.

“I can’t wait to show you my faerie land.” He let out a little laugh and looked away. You blushed. “Right, maybe I do want to go back… a little. I just wish it were under different circumstances.”

—————–

You knew London was humid, but you weren’t expecting it to be raining so hard. The moment Castiel zapped you to the gate of your parents’ house you all got instantly wet.

“Bollocks,” you muttered, and opened the creaky gate pushing it lightly. “Let’s go, boys. There is a good hundred yards till the house.”

“This is not what you promised, Y/N,” laughed Sam, trying to cover himself a bit with his bag.

“I promised London had a bed and food, so shut your mouth and walk, Winchester.”

As you arrived to the mansion, you saw that the front door was open and now a guy was running towards you with umbrellas.

“My Lady! Please, cover yourself!” he shouted through the sound of falling water, opening an umbrella for you, and then handing equal ones to the rest of the party.

“Oh, thank you, Evan! Lord you’ve grown!” he gave you a shy smile and walked you back up the steps.

Once inside, other members of the staff provided you all with towels and dry clothes. Castiel kept sending servants away, trying to keep them far from him and looking concerned. Sam and Dean were a little over their selves and didn’t actually know where to run to, or if they could run, in any the case.

“We were not expecting you, Lady Y/N,” said an older woman and you hugged her tight.

“Oh, Anne, all this… make them go away, please, we just need a bath and a hot tea. Nothing less, nothing more. My friends are not accustomed to this kind of treatment, it would be rude to force it on them.”

Anne didn’t like your request, you could read it on her face, but she nodded and signaled to the crew, who disappeared in a quick rush of feet, leaving you all alone.

“This is more than you promised, Y/N,” whispered Sam, drying his hair with a towel and looking a bit ashamed of himself.

Dean looked at you with his mouth half opened, looked at the receiver and then back at you, signaling it with his finger in an amusing gesture.

“All this…” he pointed at you, “yours?”

You laughed and started walking up the stairs, waving a hand at them so they would follow you.

“Yes. But it’s like an entire house and an entire crew bigger than I would like. This whole thing is why I ran away. Just try to imagine growing up alone and surrounded by maids and butlers all day long.”

“I could definitely try to imagine that…” he answered, following you along with Sam and Castiel.

You showed Sam and Dean their rooms, gave them clean towels and instructed them to leave their wet clothes in the basket in the bathroom. When you turned around to look at Cas you smiled, because he was already dry and clean again. He was silent, and had been since you arrived.

“Are you feeling alright, darling?” you asked stepping a little closer to him and holding his hand.

“Yes. The trip was a bit tiring, but I’m okay… Are  _you_  okay?” his cobalt eyes pierced you to the very deep of your soul, and a single tear rolled down your cheek.

“I’ll be better. Come, I’ll show you my room, since I believe you’re not going to be needing one.”

“I do believe I won’t be able to relax while we’re here,” he said, walking right at your side, looking through the windows and doors. He looked like a hunting cat.

“Yes, I don’t think I will either. But…” you turned to look at him, the anxiety printed all over your face made him focus his attention on you again. “But you can see them, can’t you? You can see demons?”

“Yes, I do.” He stroked you face gently “But I can’t tell when a human is working with them.”

You lingered in his gaze a little longer after his words sank, and then turned around to the end of the hall, the red double door looking at you.

“It used to be white with forget-me-nots painted all over it. I turned it red, so they would just go away.”

Cas looked at the door and placed a hand on your shoulder. It was gesture that gave you confidence. A gesture that said ‘You’re not alone anymore. You can do this. You can face it’, and a weird feeling shook you from head to toes. You slowly approached it and held the handles for an instant before opening both doors. Everything inside was just as you had left it fifteen years ago, and though everything was clean, even the opened journal over the desk was there, and the pen carelessly thrown over it.

Outside the rain poured heavily and all you could see now was a grey and silver curtain falling endlessly, breaking the silence with a slight shush and impregnating the air with the smell of trees, the smell of eucalyptus.

The doors closed behind you and you turned to look at your angel, standing there, watching over you.

“Are you my guardian angel now?” you teased him.

“Well, I am an angel, and I am a soldier of the Garrison. We’re all guardians,” he answered with a slight tilt of his head and a small squint of his eyes. He was reading you, you could tell. He was measuring how much he could say without you breaking into a million pieces. He was trying to figure out how much time he should let pass before you could go into the subject that had led you there.

“I shall take a bath.” You said suddenly, feeling an invisible force pulling you away from him, so you turned around and head to the bathroom “Make yourself comfortable.” You weren’t really ready yet for anything.

The bath worked miracles on your wet and cold feet, and just that improved widely how you were feeling about this sudden and forced return to a house that wasn’t yours long ago, to a bunch of people that never really were your family, and a title you never really wanted. You tried to let the warm water wash away your worries and fears, and remained there a little bit more than you should’ve, scared of the conversation Castiel was out there waiting to have with you.

He was protecting you, and you knew it. But everything seemed so sudden now, and opening up like that to someone, to anyone, was a step you weren’t yet ready to take. Back in the comfort and safety of the bunker, Cas seemed like an unmoving pillar, a beacon pointing back to a safe place; but out there, in the real world, he was a weak spot:  _your_ weak spot. And that had never been good before. You were beginning to understand that he meant to you more than you could manage or accept.

In there, with all that vapor and away from his presence, putting on your fake mask and your smile seemed like the best thing to do, like the best way to skip everything for at least a couple more hours. But when you finally came back to the room, chin up and forced smile in your lips; the moment you saw him sitting on the bed like that night on the bus, with his hands folded together, his elbows resting on his knees and his head hanging in what looked like defeat; in that precise moment you realized that you could never ever lie to him again.

All those forces trying to pull you away from him weren’t strong enough. Your survival instincts, your subconscious, your years of detachment were nothing compared to the urge of holding him, of seeing a smile crack in his lips, of looking at the stars in his eyes.

Castiel raised his head when he heard you come out and stared at you like that very first day in the hotel in Alexandria, all concern and pain. You gave him a weak smile and walked to him, kneeling on the floor in front of him and grabbing his hands, locking your fingers with his and fixing your gaze on the floor.

“I’m not easy to love. I don’t love easy. I will make many mistakes and probably won’t even be sorry about them. Please, don’t ever let me walk away from you, don’t ever let me leave you behind or on the side of anything. I want you to be there with me till the very end of it. I don’t mind if that’s tomorrow or in fifty years.”

Silence fell between the two of you and for a moment you panicked, until you felt his hand pushing your chin up so your eyes met his.

“I didn’t fall in love with you for being simple. I don’t expect you to be perfect, though you are to me. And I thought I’ve already made it clear that you’re not going to get away from me easily. I will  _always_ be by your side, Y/N.”

“I just want all this to be over.” You whispered weakly.

“So do I.” And with those words he pulled you into a hug, stroking your hair slowly, his gaze fixed on some point outside the window.

——————

Down in the kitchen some members of the staff were looking at you weirdly, while you put the kettle on the stove and began to pull the mugs out of the cupboard for your friends.

“Could I ask for some coffee instead of the tea?” asked Sam a bit overwhelmed still by the entire place.

“Why, of course, sweetie,” you answered. Around them it was easier to go back to your usual careless self.

“Yeah, make that two,” added Dean, raising up two fingers of his hand.

“Oh, would you like the menu, sir?” you joked.

“I wouldn’t mind something to eat… That trip really made me hungry.”

“Oh… uhm…” the joke finished when you realized you didn’t know what you could offer them to eat, and that you were hungry as well.

Anne came to the rescue at that very moment and started to list every single thing they’ve had in storage that could become a meal in less than two minutes, leaving you and the brothers a little dizzy.

“Uhm… I think grilled cheese will be ok for all of us… right?” you said, eyeing them quickly.

“Yes! Of course, just nothing too… complicated, we don’t want to intrude or anything,” said Sam.

“Lad, you truly are something nice. Don’t try and make me not feed you, that’s my job!” said a chubby woman walking into the kitchen and pinching his cheek. “You’re so thin!”

“Please, Ellie, behave,” snapped Anne walking out of the room.

“I’m being polite!” she shouted back before turning around and grabbing you in the tightest hug you had yet received. “My girl!”

“Hi, Ellie.”

“You know, this girl over here, she can eat as much as a horse. I’ve never seen anyone eat as much as she does and stay as beautiful.” Ellie said turning around again to face the three men sitting at the table.

“Oh, we know. We’ve seen her eat!” replied Dean with a laugh. “It’s refreshing having her around.”

“I can see you’ve tried to keep up with her… Did you?”

“Of course I did! I’m the king of cheeseburgers!”

“Good for you!” and she turned back to Sam “See, you should be more like him and eat.”

“Okay, that’s enough Ellie! Don’t lecture my friends,” you said, stepping in before Dean could sass at Sam, something you could see was starting to form in his face. “Guys, this is Ellie, the cook. Ellie, these are Sam and Dean and Cas.”

“What kind of a name is Cas?” she asked amused, staring at the angel so intensely he started to revolve in his chair.

“It’s an old name, Ellie, keep him out of your jokes and conjectures. He’s not for you to mess with unless you want to hear from me.” You answered from the stove where you were pulling out the kettle from the fire, and giving her a significant smile.

“Oh, I see,” she said, simply, and threw Castiel an honest and warm little smile before turning her back and starting to prepare the sandwiches.

The afternoon was cozy and funny. Ellie spent your whole time in the kitchen telling the guys tales from when you were little, all funny tales that made you all laugh hard and forget everything for a while. She made it simpler for you to be there. She brought back a part of your childhood you had forgotten long ago in an attempt to leave all the pain behind.

And while you were there eating sandwiches and drinking tea and coffee, the rain stopped and the sun came out. And right when Cas, who kept pacing around the place all the time restless, was reaching for you with a significant look, the doorbell rang and someone announced Miss Portia Evergreen.

The four of you stood up at the mention of the name and you felt the gazes of your friends on you while you walked into the receiver. She was standing there in all her glory, bun and glasses and red impeccable suit, and she glanced at you with disapproval.

“That is no way for a young lady to be dressing,” she snapped without even a greeting.

“I just got completely wet when I arrived and haven’t really had time to compose myself. I was starving and so were my friends. I couldn’t let them go without a snack.”

Portia looked at you like she was reading you, but seemed to be satisfied with your answer.

“Of course. Your manners before your looks, always.”

You extended a hand toward the exit on the other side of the room.

“Should we have this talk in the study? My friends will be joining us, since they have a lot of expertise in the matter at hand.” She nodded and all of them followed you to your father’s study.

Once in there, Dean closed the door and Cas checked for bugs. Portia was trembling.

“What in heaven’s sake is going on, girl!?” she demanded, dropping herself down on a chair.

“Demons,” answered Castiel simply, and looking at you he added. “We’re safe here.”

It took all of you several minutes and a lot of explaining about creatures, demons, angels and all that stuff, but finally your lawyer had caught up with the problem, and proceeded to tell you what she knew.

“The will your father left behind, the one we’ve been reading all this time–it’s a fake. I’ve always known this. He gave it to me with explicit indications that no one should ever know this until now. When you called, I recalled this conversation and came here looking for the real one that he told me was hidden in the safest place of the house. Instead, I found myself surrounded by different members of the staff that wouldn’t let me go through without them being around. When they started to push extra hard I realized there was something wrong, and I called you.”

“How did you know we were here?” asked Dean suddenly.

“He told me,” said the woman, pointing at Cas. “He appeared in my living room and told me to come.”

You looked at him inquiringly.

“You were taking a bath. I figured we were going to need to talk to her and calling her on the phone was too risky.”

“Instead, you decided it was better to nearly kill me with shock!” Portia snapped.

“There’s no time for this now. We need to find that will. We need to know what it says,” interrupted Sam, and everyone nodded in agreement.

“What’s the safest place in the house?” Dean asked you.

“It’s not the vault, I’ve already checked that,” said Portia.

And the memories came back to you; memories of warm summers and laughter, and the sense of safety.

“The fairy forest,” you mumbled, and ran out of the room with Cas right on your heels.

This was definitely not the way you wanted to show him your childhood favorite place, but the thought of the empty log was strong in your head and you just  _knew_  that was the place. It had to be.

Out of the house and into the garden, across the carefully kept lawn, your legs took you into the woods. Once there you eased the pace and so did Castiel, who finally caught up with you and grabbed your hand reassuringly.

“It’s somewhere over here, Cas, I know it. It’s got to be…” but you stopped suddenly at the sight of your father. Instinctively you let go of the angels hand and stepped backwards, but that was the greatest mistake you could’ve done, because as soon as you parted a wheel of fire burst all around him, trapping him.

“Y/N!” he shouted, unable to cross the flames, the exact moment you were grabbed from behind by two powerful hands and your mouth was covered.

“Shut it, damn angel,” spat the demon in your father’s skin. “ _You_  were something I wasn’t counting on… I had to do a lot of research and claim a lot of favors to learn how to do that.” He pointed at the holy fire.

“I’m going to kill you,” Castiel growled.

“Right, but how? Because to do that, you would have to follow us,” he was standing next to you with a hand on your shoulder. “And to follow us you would have to be able to leave that circle.”

“I will follow Y/N to the very end of the universe. You will not escape me,” Cas’ eyes were starting to glow cobalt, and suddenly you were scared that you would never see those eyes again.

“Yes, yes,” he waved his hand as if he was annoyed, “but to do that, she would have to be able to pray for you. And to do that, she would have to be conscious.” And he hit you hard on the back of your head. You felt a piercing pain and everything went black.


End file.
